For admittance to the master’s program applicants need to fulfill the following admission requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent degree with a sociology component of at least 60 credit points, with at least 20 credit points in social science research methods, 10 ECTS of which in quantitative methods
  

• Proof of proficiency in English (level C1 CEFR).

Please find more information on the application procedure and eligibility requirements here.

Further information can be found in our FAQs.

You can find our admissions regulations here.

The research-based program concentrates on the description and analysis of the social aspects of Europeanization: To what extent are European nation states already integrated into a European community? Under which conditions is further integration possible?

In the focus are socio-cultural and cultural differences, similarities and conflicts in a comparative perspective. Changes of societies on a national level as a result of economic, political and social Europeanization will be analyzed. The course also considers Europe and Europeanization within a global context and in comparison to other regions of the world.

The institute of sociology only offers the master’s program „Sociology – European Societies“ and the Combined Bachelor's degree program "Global Sociology" - this ensures excellent mentoring.

Furthermore the study program benefits from an extraordinary social science infrastructure in Berlin.

The master’s program is offered by the institute of sociology in cooperation with the following institutions of Freie Universität:

• Institute for Political Science (OSI)

• Institute for Latin American Studies (LAI)

• Institute for East European Studies (OEI)

• John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies (JFK)

and together with:

• Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)

• Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

A number of researchers affiliated with these centres offer courses in the master’s program. Besides this, many students benefit from the employment opportunities from these institutions and related chances to learn about applied social science up to now.

The comparative perspective regarding research and teaching – which is quite rare at German universities – facilitates describing and explaining contemporary developments of Europeanization and globalization within a theoretical framework and with the help of empirical data.

The master’s program „Sociology – European Societies“ encompasses four study sections:

• Basics (Modules 1-3)

• Consolidation (Modules 4-6)

• Specialization (Modules 7, 8 and colloquium)

• Completion (master thesis).

The study regulations contain further information regarding structure, procedure, content and amount of work; the examination regulations include types, requirements of examinations and credit points.

For further details, please check our website: https://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/en/soziologie/studium/master/program/index.html#modules_courses

The academic degree Master of Arts (M.A.) is awarded after successful graduation of the program.

The course aims at qualifying students for positions in academic and science-related professions. It equips graduates for work within academic and political fields; for example, for positions in social science and research centers, international and particularly European Organizations, NGOs and governmental institutions. Additionally, the program enables graduates to teach at universities and other higher education institutions.

The following literature suggestions are intended to provide an insight into

a)    the topic of comparative sociology
b)    the research being conducted at the Institute of Sociology.

You do not have to acquire this literature in preparation for your studies.

a)

• Checkel, J.T. & Katzenstein, P.J. (2009): European Identity. New York: Cambridge University Press. 
• Halman, L., & Arts, W. (eds.) (2013): Value Contrasts and Consensus in Present-Day Europe: Painting Europe’s Moral Landscapes. Amsterdam: Brill.
• Breen, M.J.  (2017): Values and  Identities  in  Europe:  Evidence  from  the  European  Social Survey. London: Routledge.
• Eigmüller,    Sebastian    M.,    Monika    Büttner    &    Susann    Worschech    (2022). Sociology of Europeanization. Berlin: De Gruyter.
• Della Porta, Donatella & Diani, Mario (2020): Social Movements: An Introduction. 3rd edition. Wiley Blackwell.
• Lelieveldt, Herman & Princen, Sebastian (2023): The Politics of the European Union. 3rd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Pippa, Norris & Inglehart, Ronald (2019): Cultural Backlash: Trump, Brexit, and Authoritarian Populism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Grusky, David B. (ed.) (2014): Social Stratification in Sociological Perspective: Class, Race, and Gender. 4th edition. New York: Westview.
• Milanovic, Branko (2024): The three eras of global inequality, 1820–2020 with the focus on the past thirty years, in: World Development, Vol. 177, Iss. 106516.
• Liebig, Stefan & Sauer, Carsten (2016): Sociology of justice, in: C. Sabbagh, M. Schmitt (eds.), Handbook of Social Justice Theory and Research. Springer, pp.37-59.

b)

Macrosociology

• Büttner, Sebastian M., Monika Eigmüller & Susann Worschech (eds.) (2022): Sociology of Europeanization. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg.
• Deutschmann, Emanuel (2021): Mapping the Transnational World: How We Move and Communicate across Borders, and Why It Matters. Princeton University Press.
• Haas, Hein de, Stephen Castles & Mark Miller (2020): The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World. New York and London: Guilford Press.
• Tubergen, Frank van (2020). Introduction to Sociology: Culture, Structure, and Inequality. Routledge

 
Sociology of Emotions

• Collins, R. (2004): Interaction Ritual Chains. Princeton University Press.
• Hochschild, Arlie R. (2016): Strangers in their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. New York: New Press.
• Illouz, Eva (2007): Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism. London: Polity Press.
• Heise, David R. (2007): Expressive Order: Confirming Sentiments in Social Actions. New York: Springer.
• Turner, Jonathan H. (2012): The Sociology of Emotions. New York: Cambridge University Press. Political Sociology
• Borbáth, Endre, Swen Hutter & Arndt Leininger (eds.) (2023). Under Pressure: Polarisation and Participation in Western Europe, in: Special Issue of West European Politics, Vol. 46, Iss. 4.
• Hutter, Swen & Kriese, Hanspeter (eds.) (2019): European Party Politics in Times of Crisis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Hutter, Swen (2014): Protesting Culture and Economics in Western Europe: New Cleavages in Left and Right Politics. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Political Sociology

• Borbáth, Endre, Swen Hutter & Arndt Leininger (eds.) (2023). Under Pressure: Polarisation and Participation in Western Europe, in: Special Issue of West European Politics, Vol. 46, Iss. 4.
• Bojar, Abel, Theresa Gessler, Swen Hutter, and Hanspeter Kriesi (eds.) (2021): Contentious Episodes in the Age of Austerity: Studying the Dynamics of Government-Challenger Interactions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Hutter, Swen and Hanspeter Kriesi (eds.) (2019): European Party Politics in Times of Crisis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Hutter, Swen, Edgar Grande, and Hanspeter Kriesi (eds.) (2016): Politicising Europe: Mass Politics and Integration. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Hutter, Swen (2014): Protesting Culture and Economics in Western Europe: New Cleavages in Left and Right Politics. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Empirical Social Structure Analysis and Survey Methodology

• Lupu, N. & Pontusson, J. (eds.) (2023) Unequal Democracies: Public Policy, Responsiveness, and Redistribution in an Era of Rising Economic Inequality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Best, H. & Wolf, C. (eds.) (2014): The SAGE Handbook of Regression Analysis and Causal Inference. Los Angeles Calif: SAGE Publications Ltd.
• Smelser, N. J. & Swedberg, R. (2010): The Handbook of Economic Sociology, Second Edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Groves, Robert M., Floyd J. Fowler Jr., Mick P. Couper, Roger Tourangeau, Eleanor Singer & James M. Lepkowski (2009): Survey Methodology. Hoboken: N.J, Wiley.